Archives: Speakers

Yang Su, Ph.D., is currently the Manager of New Technology and Applications at Microfluidics International Corporation, IDEX Material Processing Group. He has many years of experience in products/processes/applications development and improvements across a variety of industries. He is also an expert in numerical simulations such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEM). In his current role, he is responsible for the overall direction and development of new technology, new application development, and shares responsibility for business line strategy of new technologies. Dr. Su received his Ph.D. degree in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from the University of Toledo in Ohio, USA. He is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientist and Controlled Release Society.

Kamila is the co-founder of Kolibri Drinks, the world’s first packaged drinks which enable personalisation and dosing of ingredients such as CBD. An award-winning professional with 20+ years of experience in the beverage industry setting category strategies for Britvic’s and PepsiCo’s brands, a leading F&B blogger, and the author of the Amazon bestselling business book titled ‘Bespoke’.

Kamila is on a mission to create brands of the future in a proprietary, eco-friendly packaging which enables personalisation, dosing and effective supplementing – imperative for functional drinks and the cannabis industry! Kolibri is the UK’s most awarded beverage innovation of 2019 pioneering experiential drinks which inspire, heal and delight

Carys Smith has been at the forefront of developments in legislation that affect advertising standards and regulations which impact FMCG industries at Ayton Global Research since 2012. This knowledge has been put to good effect when working closely with international clients including Walgreen Boots Alliance, Meiyume, Oriflame, PZ Cussons, Acheson & Acheson, S&J International, Guthy Renker, Jalco, The Body Shop and many more.

Carys has designed, overseen and managed studies for over 250 clients and is in a great position to lecture about global trends in FMCG industries, consumer research and claims testing.

Carys has travelled globally to countries within Asia, Europe, the USA and more to provide lectures and discussions on the topic of advertising, testing methodologies, claim substantiation and the regulations and laws which surround this process.

Dr Paul Smith is the Secretary General of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). BGCI is the largest plant conservation network in the world, comprising 600 member institutions in 100 countries. Paul joined BGCI as Secretary General in March 2015. Prior to this, Paul was Head of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB). During his nine years at the helm there, seeds from >25,000 plant species were conserved in the MSB and, in 2009, the MSB achieved its first significant milestone, securing seed from 10% of the world’s plant species, prioritising rare, threatened and useful plants. Paul trained as a plant ecologist, and is a specialist in the plants and vegetation of southern Africa. He is the author of two field guides to the flora of south-central Africa and the Vegetation Atlas of Madagascar. He is a Trustee of the National Botanic Garden of Wales, and is the recipient of the New England Wildflower Society’s Medal for Services to International Plant Conservation and the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration.

•  CFO and member of the Management Board of Ekosem-Agrar AG
•  Member of the supervisory boards of Ekotechnika AG and ACS Landwirtschafts AG
•  Feb-13 to Oct-16: Served as CFO of Ekotechnika AG
•  In 2016 established the finance consulting company wb finance GmbH which specializes on financing consultancy
•  Also served as CFO of Novasoft AG and KTG Agrar AG in the years 2005 till 2009
•  Completed an apprenticeship in financial administration, followed by a degree in Technical Business Administration (FH) with distinction
•  Born in Offenburg, Germany, in 1968

A courageous Quality Leader with lots of broad experience and the ability to motivate people at the team and individual level.
An Innovative, “out of the box” thinker with excellent communication skills.

• 15+ years of experience in the nutrition industry
• Development of bioactive dietary supplement ingredients
• Food ingredients portfolio management
• Clinical Research